Das Konzept der Abwägung wird in der praktischen Philosophie ebenso ubiquitär verwendet wie in den Wirtschaftswissenschaften und im Recht. Es ist jedoch voraussetzungsvoller und umstrittener als zumeist angenommen. „Abwägung“ bezeichnet einen Vorgang praktischen Überlegens, in den mehrere Aspekte in vergleichender Weise eingehen. Die Skepsis gegen das Konzept gründet darin, dass sich die Metapher nicht auf beliebige Gegenstände anwenden lässt. Insbesondere müssen die Wertzuschreibungen, die das Gewicht der Gegenstände bestimmen, in ihren normativen Grundlagen widerspruchsfrei sein und sie müssen ähnlich wie die (...) Gewichtskräfte, mit denen Körper auf die Schalen einer Balkenwaage einwirken, eine gewisse Kontextinvarianz aufweisen. Das setzt Unabhängigkeitsannahmen voraus, deren Gültigkeit im Falle normativer Bewertungen nicht trivial ist. Der Band dient dem Zweck, diese Zusammenhänge durchsichtiger zu machen. Er entstand auf der Basis einer mehrjährigen Zusammenarbeit von Autor:innen aus den Fächern Philosophie, Jurisprudenz und Ökonomie. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung. Der Beitrag diskutiert die ethischen Grundlagen der sogenannten Triage (der Sortierung von Behandlungsbedürftigen in Dringlichkeitskategorien beim Massenanfall Verwundeter) und prüft, inwieweit eine Übertragung dieser Praxis auf eine unter Rationierungsdruck geratende Alltagsmedizin begründbar bzw. zu erwarten ist. Insbesondere wird der ethische Status der sog. Maximierungsregel („rette so viele Menschenleben wie möglich”) erläutert, und es werden die bereits in der katastrophenmedizinischen Praxis nicht ganz unwirksamen Grenzen der Orientierung an dieser Regel deutlich gemacht.

Thirty years of debate have passed since the term “Rule of Rescue” has been introduced into medical ethics. Its main focus was on whether or why medical treatment for acute conditions should have priority over preventive measures irrespective of opportunity costs. Recent contributions, taking account of the widespread reluctance to accept purely efficiency-oriented prioritization approaches, advance another objection: Prioritizing treatment, they hold, discriminates against statistical lives. The reference to opportunity costs has also been renewed in a distinctly ethical fashion: It (...) has been stipulated that favoring help for identifiable lives amounts to a lack of benevolence for one’s fellow creatures. The present article argues against both objections. It suggests that the debate’s focus on consequences should be reoriented by asking which aspects of such states of affairs are actually attributable to a decision maker who judges within a specific situation of choice. (shrink)

Verstoßen pränatale und präimplantive Selektion von Behinderten gegen das Diskriminierungsverbot? Die Antwort wird meist von der Frage nach dem Status des Embryos abhängig gemacht: Ist der Embryo Träger der Menschenwürde und des Rechts auf Leben, dann könne eine Entscheidung der Mutter gegen das Kind (soweit sie überhaupt gerechtfertigt werden kann) dem Diskriminierungsvorwurf nur entgehen, wenn sie nicht spezifisch im Blick auf den Behindertenstatus des Embryos fällt. Der vorliegende Beitrag 1. setzt nicht voraus, dass der Embryo kein Träger der Menschenwürde und (...) des Rechts auf Leben ist; 2. argumentiert, dass der Mutter die Berücksichtigung des Behindertenstatus gleichwohl nicht vorgeworfen werden kann, da dergleichen im privaten Bereich auch sonst häufig berücksichtigt wird und es gute Gründe gibt, das nicht generell zu verbieten; 3. macht deutlich, dass der starke intuitive Widerstand speziell gegen die Präimplantationsdiagnostik in der deutschen öffentlichen Debatte in etwas anderem als der Sorge um die Rechte der verworfenen Embryonen wurzelt und dass eine dementsprechende Umorientierung der Debatte dringend erforderlich ist. (shrink)

The Adequate Cause Theory: On the relation of Philosophical and Legal Concepts of Causality. The paper discusses the first explicit and logically convincing introduction of a concept of probabilistic causality into legal theories of causation in Germany by Johannes von Kries (1888). First, it is shown how this step was prepared by the failure of the philosophical analysis of causation which took its leading examples from physics to overcome the difficulties which presented themselves in cases of "irreducible multicausality". Secondly, I (...) give the basic ideas of Kries's connection of causal theory and probability theory by presenting his concept of "scope" ("Spielraum"). Finally, I turn to some concepts which are still controversively discussed in legal contexts and which exhibit the logical structure analysed by Kries. It is shown that a certain indefiniteness of the relevant distinctions, which cannot be overcome, does not paralyse their being useful. (shrink)

This article examines the claim that the practice of selective abortion after prenatal testing discriminates against the disabled. First, the difference between a legal claim and a weaker and less clearly addressed, but more frequently expressed »moral« claim is considered. The argument proceeds then by considering the analogy of »discriminating« against the disabled in partner choice. The liberal idea of a sphere of privacy where selective behaviour is nottobe criticised is assessed and its justitiable and non-justifiable aspects are brought out.

Slight revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universit'at Konstanz, 1989.

The reply concentrates on advancing again my third thesis, which has not directly been taken up by Breyer and Kliemt. The thesis says that both criticisms against the Rule of Rescue - the irrationality objection, which Breyer and Kliemt try to defend, and the objection that the Rule is discriminatory, which they do not defend - are the results of insufficient action-theoretical reflection. I argue that Breyer's and Kliemt's objection to the Rule, unstable as it is in their comment, is (...) not even clearly identifiable if they do not take a stance towards the central question: Do they want to -and, if so, can they consistently -incorporate people's interest in taking account of the attributability of an outcome to a decision maker into their utility concept? (shrink)

Ever since Savage represented acts by reference to their consequences, it has remained unclear how this conceptual move and its implications for evaluating acts may be reconciled with what is treated as people's acts in everyday talk and in our societies' legal practices. The present contribution, first, comments on applied and theoretical debates to emphasize the systematic relevance of Savage's move. It then focuses on the purportedly causal element in the term "consequence." A simple case shows how the idea that (...) choices are causally connected to their consequences meets with problems. Possible consequentialist reactions are discussed. (shrink)

Zusammenfassung. Der Beitrag diskutiert die ethischen Grundlagen der sogenannten Triage (der Sortierung von Behandlungsbedürftigen in Dringlichkeitskategorien beim Massenanfall Verwundeter) und prüft, inwieweit eine Übertragung dieser Praxis auf eine unter Rationierungsdruck geratende Alltagsmedizin begründbar bzw. zu erwarten ist. Insbesondere wird der ethische Status der sog. Maximierungsregel („rette so viele Menschenleben wie möglich”) erläutert, und es werden die bereits in der katastrophenmedizinischen Praxis nicht ganz unwirksamen Grenzen der Orientierung an dieser Regel deutlich gemacht.

Este ensayo presenta la autoetnografía crítica como una estrategia innovadora para desarrollar investigaciones en comunidades marginadas y vulnerables. Como se usa en este artículo, es una combinación de autoetnografía, etnografía y pedagogía crítica por la cual la investigadora se hace participante en el estudio, dirigiéndose al interior para examinar el Self y la complejidad de las perspectivas usando la lente de la pedagogía crítica. La reflexividad y la introspección intensas apoyan este estudio del Self como participante para ir más allá (...) del recuento de hechos tan objetivamente como sea posible, que es lo que ocurre con la autobiografía, para reconocer que la investigadora interpreta los hechos de su vida a partir de perspectivas culturales que se han formado por años debido a sucesos y circunstancias socioculturales, socio-históricas, sociopolíticas y socioeconómicas que le han ocurrido. Subsecuentemente, la investigadora, como miembro de la cultura dominante, en algunas categorías puede verse y entenderse a sí misma como opresora de la gente que vive en las comunidades donde hace sus investigaciones. (shrink)

Opposed to Norman's proposal, processing of affordance is likely to occur not solely in the dorsal stream but also in the ventral stream. Moreover, the dorsal stream might do more than just serve an important role in motor actions. It supports egocentric location coding as well. As such, it would possess a form of representational memory, contrary to Norman's proposal.

This book examines the role of British object relations theory in order to explore our understanding and treatment of depression. It challenges current conceptualizations of depression while simultaneously discussing the complex nature of depression, its long-lasting and chronic implications and the susceptibility to relapse many may face. Illuminated throughout by case studies, areas of discussion include: Freud’s theory of depression analytic subtypes of depression a theoretical contribution to the problem of relapse the correlation between dream work and the work of (...) mourning. _Object Relations in Depression_ offers a psychoanalytic discussion of the multifaceted nature of depression and as such will be of great interest to all those in the psychoanalytic field. (shrink)

_The Borderline Psychotic Child_ reviews the history and evolution of the borderline diagnosis for children, both in the USA and the UK, bringing the reader up to date with current clinical opinion on the subject. Using a range of clinical case studies, the book attempts to harmonise US and UK views on borderline diagnosis in the light of new developments in theory at The Menninger Clinic, The Anna Freud Centre and The Tavistock Clinic. Providing an introduction to the borderline concept, (...) and a systematic overview of current theoretical thinking and clinical practices from leading practitioners in the field, _The Borderline Psychotic Child_ will make informative reading both for professionals and students in the field of child analysis. (shrink)

A travel management programme allows an organisation to manage corporate travel expenditure, and through a well-formulated travel policy, to control its travel expenses. However, traveller non-compliance of the travel policy is an increasing area of concern with surveys conducted amongst travellers showing various reasons for non-compliance, both deliberate and unknowing. The purpose of this article is to look beyond the reasons and identify the underlying factors that influence travel policy compliance. Two broad categories of factors that lead to non-compliance are (...) distinguished: those related to the corporate travel policy as formulated and communicated by the organisation, referred to as corporate-related factors and including issues of corporate culture and business ethics; and those related to the person of the corporate traveller, referred as personal-related factors and including issues of personal ethics. This article makes a first attempt at identifying factors that have not previously been recognised in those industry or academic studies done on non-compliance or violation of the corporate travel policy. (shrink)

This article presents the results of the empirical testing of the corporate travel policy compliance model conceptualised by the authors and first published in the Journal of Business Ethics in 2009. In the previous article, the theory underlying the model was explained. This article follows with the results of the empirical testing of the model and focusses on those related to the influence of personal factors on policy compliance. The constructs used to define personal-related factors include personal ethics, individual morality, (...) self-interest, levels of job- and life satisfaction and the conditions of travel. The empirical investigation sought to determine if personal-related factors significantly influenced travel policy compliance and from the study it could be concluded that there is a correlation, with certain factors exhibiting a stronger correlation than others. The implication is that organisations need to understand the impact of factors previously ignored or under-valued as determinants of non-compliance and take steps to recognise and remedy the situation to achieve higher levels of travel policy compliance amongst corporate travellers. (shrink)